Myths and heroes

Leroux Alexandre                                             Synthèse d’Anglais                                        05/01/17

Terminale STMG [pic 1][pic 2]

I’m going to talk about « Myths and Heroes ». First, I would like to propose a definition of it: A myth can be defined as a story about gods or heroes, it can be a popular belief or a tradition or a false notion. Myths originally aimed at explaining the origins of humanity and narrating the foundations of a given community. These narratives thus deliver a universal message about the human condition and also give elements as to the collective identity of a social group. A myth is a traditional story concerning the early history of people or explaining a natural or social phenomenon and typically involving supernatural beings or events. A hero can be a mythological figure, a person who is admired for his or her achievements, a superhero or maybe a role model or an icon. Heroes can be real or imaginary characters. Examples can be:

– a patriotic or national hero (sportsman, politician, human rights defender….)

– a fictitious hero (superhero or film star)

– an icon or role model (fashion, TV, music)

– a defender of common values

– a politician/king/queen who has achieved international recognition.

In class we studied creepy fictions and immigration in the USA to answer the problem: “What are the links between myths and heroes?”

1. Myths:

First we observed two photos dealing with creepy fiction. Creepy fictions mean causing an unpleasant feeling of fear or unease: “the creepy feelings one often gets in a strange house”. It’s producing a sensation of uneasiness of fear having or causing a sensation of repulsion, horror or fear as off creatures crawling on the skins.

The first picture in black and white depicts a crumbling castle which looks deserted and uninhabited. The scene seems to took place in an isolated place and happens at twilight.

The second picture dealing with gothic fiction. Gothic fiction, the word “gothic” refers of a kind of art architecture common in Europe in the middle age. It is associated with castles, abbeys, monasteries or other religious buildings. It is also synonymous with gloomy and frightening landscape and fantastic creatures. The picture shows a vampire. It seems to be Dracula. Dracula is a character of a gothic fiction of the same name which has written by Bram Stoker, an English writer, and published May 26th, 1897.

Every myth is based on true facts. It is what says George Orwell, a British writer: “Myths which are believed in tend to become true”.

Still today some myths exist and people believe in them. For instance, the myth of the American Dream is a modern myth. The American dream means that all people living in the United States can, by his work, and his courage, success even started with nothing. Several people embody this myth.

In example, we saw the story of Lolo, a Filipino who immigrated to the US with his parents and he worked as a journalist since many years but he never gets his residency card. He wants to live the myth of the American dream but he can never live fully it because he’s still an undocumented immigrant.

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